A. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to novel soil-resistant yarns, to a process for producing such yarns and to fabrics made therefrom. The term "yarn" as used herein includes staple yarn and continuous filament yarn.
B. Description of the Prior Art
The post treatment of textile fabrics, such as finished carpets, with sprays containing soil retardants such as fluorochemicals to impart soil resistance thereto and, in particular, to impart oil and water repellency thereto, is widely practiced both by housewives and fabric manufacturers. Fluorochemicals described as being useful in the post treatment of textile fabrics include those described in the following U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,043,964; 4,043,923; 3,987,227; 3,916,053; 3,896,035; 3,816,229; 4,013,627; 3,872,058; 3,849,521; 3,316,167; 3,811,933; 3,708,537; 3,651,069; 3,645,990; 3,592,686; 3,574,791; 3,547,894; 3,544,663; 3,503,915; 3,491,169; 3,484,281; 3,462,296; 3,398;182; 3,282,905; 3,277,039; 3,256,231; 3,256,230; 3,068,197; 2,803,615; and 2,642,416. Also of interest is British Pat. No. 1,504,463. All of the above patents are herewith incorporated by reference. Fluorochemicals which have enjoyed commercial success for use in the post treatment of finished carpets include Scotchgard Brand Stain Repeller, a brand name of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, and Zepel and Teflon, trademarks of E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company for fluorocarbon textile finishes.
The fluorochemical post treatment of carpets involves spraying or otherwise applying sufficient fluorochemical composition (i.e. fluorochemical in a suitable liquid medium, such as water or solvent) to the pile facing of a finished carpet to provide a desired wet pickup of fluorochemical and then drying the piling to remove the liquid and leave a coating of fluorochemical thereon. The treatment has several drawbacks. One drawback, particularly in the case of plus cut-pile carpets, is that only the surface of the carpet (exposed tuft ends) is protected, that is, coated with fluorochemical. In other words, the treatment does not penetrate down into the carpet and protect the middle and lower regions of the piling where soil tends to build up. As a result, the treatment protects (i.e. imparts soil resistance to) only a minor portion of the carpet piling. Another drawback is that the fluorochemical tends to be removed during normal use and cleaning of the carpets.
Attempts have been made in the past to coat the yarns prior to tufting with the prior art fluorochemical compositions. However, such attempts have heretofore been unsuccessful because the fluorochemical does not stay on the yarn or at least an effective amount thereof does not stay on the yarn during subsequent carpet processing operations and, in particular, during carpet dyeing.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel soil-retardant composition which overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art fluorochemical compositions and which may be effectively applied to the yarn from which textile fabrics, such as carpets, are made.
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description thereof.